Recently, with the rapid development of communication techniques, the requirement level of data processing capability and processing speed of a communication system has been greatly heightened. In particular, a communication system which can process an enormous amount of data at a high speed with respect to broadband signals is required. For example, in order to develop a fourth generation mobile communication system, a high resolution radar system, a broadband system, a military system, a wireless system and a signal processing method that can meet such requirement are necessary.
In general, a broadband signal processing technique is a technique that can easily acquire information included in a signal having a bandwidth of several gigahertz (GHz) or more through digitalization and processing of the signal. In the fourth generation mobile communication system, the broadband signal processing technique enables a large capacity multimedia service through high-speed data transmission, and in the radar system, the broadband signal processing technique may be used to improve detection capability according to high-resolution implementation. An important condition among diverse conditions for such broadband signal processing is that the signal processing system has a capability of processing a wide bandwidth or diverse narrowband signals constituting the bandwidth at a high speed and a wide dynamic range.
In particular, in the broadband signal processing system, it is required that the operating range of the system accommodates all narrowband signals having different signal sizes in a broadband signal that is composed of a plurality of narrowband signals. Further, the broadband signal processing system should have a wide operating range and a high bit resolution. In the existing wireless system, the bit resolution should be lowered to secure the operating range, or the operating range should be narrowed to heighten the bit resolution. However, for effective processing of the broadband signal and development of a system or service using this, the development of a system having a high bit resolution and a wide operating range should precede.
Further, since the broadband signal processing system can be applied to not only a general communication system such as a mobile communication system but also diverse systems including a radar system, an astronomical observation system, a weather forecast system, a satellite communication system, and the like, the broadband signal processing system should have high bit resolution in addition to the wide operating range. Moreover, it is required that the broadband signal processing system can process even a very short signal accurately and rapidly through the high bit resolution and measure signal specifications which are inherent characteristics of a signal that can be used to analyze the arrival time, strength, frequency, pulse width, and modulation type of a received signal.
That is, the broadband signal processing system should be a system which can measure the signal specifications while it maintains a wide operating range and a high bit resolution in addition to a simply wide operating range of the existing system. Further, the broadband signal processing system requires an inexpensive price, simple configuration, easy of data processing, and high reliability of the signal processing apparatus and method so that it can be easily used in a broad field while maintaining the above-described characteristics.